March, 2021 - The African Mirror

Mar

2021

Ghana kicks off vaccinations

CHRISTIAN AKORLIE GHANA began its coronavirus vaccination drive yesterday with 600 000 AstraZeneca doses it received from the global COVAX vaccine-sharing facility aimed at providing shots to developing nations to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic. People lined up for shots outside the regional hospital in the capital, Accra, for a first phase of vaccinations which will prioritise frontline health workers and others at high risk. "I feel so good about taking the vaccine. It will protect me from contracting the virus from patients," said Bernice Anaglatey, 42, who works in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at Accra's Ridge Hospital as…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria takes delivery of its first vaccines

COVID-19

NIGERIA yesterday received its first COVID-19 vaccines to kick off an inoculation programme in Africa's most populous nation, delivered under the international COVAX scheme. The West African nation of 200 million people took delivery of 3.92 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. Nigeria is the third West African country to receive COVAX shots, after Ghana and Ivory Coast, which have both started vaccination campaigns. Dozens of Nigerian officials, wearing yellow high-visibility jackets and facemasks, met the flight delivering the vaccines on the airport tarmac in Abuja. The government aims to start by vaccinating frontline healthcare workers, the highest-priority recipients, in…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Uganda’s qualification hampered

SPORT

BOITUMELO RANTAO UGANDA’S quest for an African Basketball Championship (Afrobasket) qualification berth has been delayed after their fixtures postponed due to an outbreak of COVID-19. Five members of Uganda’s delegation tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Monastir, Tunisia for the Group E fixtures against Egypt, Morocco, and Cape Verde. “It’s a huge relief for us. We are delighted and excited at the opportunity to compete again. We are confident that our team will qualify and be in Kigali in August,” Nassir Sserunjogi - FUBA President Members of the Uganda delegation (players, coaches, and additional official members) were asked to…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

No breakthrough on Myanmar crisis at Southeast Asian summit

WORLD

TOM ALLARD A summit of Southeast Asian states held yesterday to discuss the coup in Myanmar failed to find a breakthrough to get the nation back on the path to democracy after last month's military takeover, sources with knowledge of the meeting said. Speaking after foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ended their virtual meeting, Indonesia's chief envoy Retno Marsudi urged the junta to allow the bloc to resolve escalating tensions. "It takes two to tango," she said after the meeting. "ASEAN's good intentions and readiness will be meaningless if Myanmar does not open its door."…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Tobacco exporter faces slavery charges in landmark Brazil case

WORLD

FABIO TEIXEIRA A large Brazilian tobacco exporter has been charged with using slave labour in the country's first government action against a tobacco company for conditions on a farm, labour inspectors have disclosed. Nine workers, of whom five were children aged from nine to 16, were rescued last week from a farm in Venancio Aires in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul that had an exclusive contract with CTA Continental Tobaccos Alliance. Labour inspectors said the workers were found living in poor conditions at the farm where they were paid less than a third of Brazil's minimum wage.…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

UK’s Prince Philip remains in hospital after two weeks

WORLD

BRITAIN’S Prince Philip continues to receive treatment and undergoing heart tests, two weeks after the 99-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth was admitted to hospital in London as a precaution after he felt unwell. Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was transferred on Monday from the private King Edward VII hospital to St Bartholomew's Hospital, which is a centre of excellence for cardiac care, for tests for a pre-existing heart condition and treatment for an unspecified infection which is not COVID-related. His 14-night stay in hospital is the longest he has needed treatment, although Buckingham Palace has said he is comfortable and…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Painstaking study of ‘Little Foot’ fossil sheds light on human origins

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

WILL DUNHAM SOPHISTICATED scanning technology is revealing intriguing secrets about Little Foot, the remarkable fossil of an early human forerunner that inhabited South Africa 3.67 million years ago during a critical juncture in our evolutionary history. Scientists yesterday disclosed that they examined key parts of the nearly complete and well-preserved fossil at Britain's national synchrotron facility, Diamond Light Source. The scanning focused upon Little Foot's cranial vault - the upper part of her braincase - and her lower jaw, or mandible. The researchers gained insight not only into the biology of Little Foot's species but also into the hardships that…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Why Tunisians are still out on the streets — a decade after the ‘Dignity Revolution’

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

IT has been 10 years since nation-wide protests in Tunisia led to the ousting of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his regime. Ben Ali led Tunisia for 23 years. Tunisia’s “Dignity Revolution” marked the first time a long-standing Arab autocrat was removed by a mass uprising. SAEROM HAN, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Aberdeen ANDREA TETI, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of Aberdeen PAMELA ABBOTT, Director of the Centre for Global Development and Professor in the School of Education, University of Aberdeen The protests were driven by unemployment, food inflation, corruption, lack of political freedom and…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Date set for Zuma’s Constitutional Court hearing

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER SOUTH Africa’s highest court - the Constitutional Court - will hear the case against the country’s former president Jacob Zuma on March 25. Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, who chairs the judicial commission into state capture, theft and corruption, approached the Constitutional Court on an urgent basis, to convict Zuma of contempt and impose a two year prison sentence on him. The Constitutional Court yesterday issued directions in terms of which Zuma has until March 8 to file a response to the case made by the Zondo Commission. The commission approached the court after Zuma ignored its…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Sex scandal: Zim vice president quits

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER A sex scandal - allegedly involving several women - has brought down one of Ziimbabwe’s powerful politicians. Zimbabwe’s vice president Kembo Mohadi resigned yesterday following the emergence of the sensational allegations, some of them including married women. In his resignation letter, Mohadi said he was stepping down from his powerful job to deal with his problems and to avoid compromising the office of the President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa as well as the government. Mohadi (70) said he was a victim of distortion, voice cloning, sponsored spooking and political sabotage. “I have been through a soul searching…